Some type of radiator or heat exchanger is normally required to remove heat from an internal combustion engine. For most applications, the power required to turn the fan that moves air through the radiator has been obtained through some mechanical, hydraulic, or belt-driven connection to the engine crankshaft.
A conventional radiator includes an intake tank, a core made up of a plurality of finned tubes, and an exit tank connected by hoses. The radiator may be used to cool the means of propulsion (e.g., gas engine, diesel engine, fuel cell engine) in the motor vehicle. The radiator may be filled with a coolant to radiate superfluous heat from the engine into the air by means of conduction and convection. Fans, which may be powered by the vehicle engine or electrically powered, propel ambient air near the surface of the road through the radiator core to accelerate the cooling process. The radiator is typically placed in a vertical orientation in close proximity to the vehicle engine in a tight, confined engine compartment. The fan draws the air through the radiator core area and directs it around the confined engine compartment. The ambient air passing through the radiator is heated and passes over the engine, tightly enclosed within the engine compartment. The air then is forced downward, under the vehicle. The location of the radiator often makes it difficult to perform maintenance on the engine. In some cases, the radiator shroud or the complete radiator must be removed to perform certain tasks.
Large vehicles such as buses, motor homes, and delivery vans have limited frontal access to the engine compartment that is often partially or completely blocked by the radiator of the vehicle. This can make maintenance on the engine or other engine compartment components very difficult. Standard bus radiator installations are close to the street level, typically on the street side of the bus. This low mounting location increases the dirt and debris collected by the radiator, and, hence, increases the number of times the radiator needs to be cleaned and checked, and decreases the cleaning intervals. Radiator cleaning requirements stipulate that the radiator be cleaned in the opposite direction of the airflow. Therefore, most radiators need to be cleaned from the inside of the engine compartment. This may require partial disassembly of the radiator shroud to effectively clean the radiator, increasing the time and complexity of the radiator cleaning process.